Scratch
by Satine89
Summary: (Hana-Kimi) Haruka's life is ruined by Dr. Umeda... and Minabi Nanba is in love with her! Could her life be any more screwy? Pg-13 for sexual situations.
1. Default Chapter

One

My shoes made the same sound as always. Tmp, tmp, tmp… all the way to Osaka Peach All-Girls High School. The Mary Janes I wore all the time back then were shiny as ever, in perfect form. I wouldn't have them any other way, for I, Haruka Noroboku, am an obsessive-compulsive perfectionist.

But that day was one of the worst of my life. I had woken up in the morning to the sound of my college-age brother and my rational mother arguing. That was pretty normal, for my brother insisted on making my mom breakfast every morning, something she said she was perfectly capable of (even with her six-month pregnant body), but the arguing this time was different. It was viler, with more shouting and more tears.

My brother had been a good friend of the doctor at the local boy's high school (Osaka High School), Dr. Hokuto Umeda. I saw him very often, and I considered him to be a friend. 'Friend' wasn't something I had an abundance of. In fact, I only had two. The first was Dr. Umeda, and the second was a classmate of mine named Umi Mizoru.

Usually, I walked to school with Umi, but that day I had to be alone for a few minutes. I pulled a strand of brown-blonde hair behind my ears, letting it fall limply with the rest of my hair, spiky on the bottom as if slicked by water but soft to the touch. My eyes lowered to the cement below me and I sighed.

A friendly hand hit me in the back as I brooded on the argument. The hand belonged not to the reserved Umi, but to the hyperactive girl that sat next to me in Homeroom, Mii Asakasa. I didn't much like her, for she was a rabid fan girl of sorts. Mii pulled her blonde bangs under her black beanie, something she did often.

"Hey, sista!" Mii yelled happily. "I think today's gonna be the day, sista!"

I knew what Mii would say next… the same thing she said every day.

"I'm positive that Minami is going to ask me out today!" she squealed happily as I mirrored her mouth's movement. "He's finally going to see how good him and I look together and fall head-over-heels!"

I said nothing; for it was highly unlikely that Mii would even listen. I focused again on my brother, Suzuki Noroboku. I now knew the skeleton in his closet that I never thought existed, the one that seemed least likely: my brother was gay.

He finally admitted it to my mother this morning. My mom asked with whom, so that she could meet him and see… to which point Suzuki replied that she had met him.

My brother's lover is Dr. Umeda. I think that's what made my mom mad, because she was talking about how Umeda was using him like that… but Suzuki insisted that the two of them were in love. My mom isn't too keen on those kinds of relationships, so she kicked Suzuki out.

Mii was really ruining a depressing shojo manga-esque mood. To tell the truth, she shattered my tranquil environment and began to tick me off.

"Do you think I'm lying?" Mii scowled. Even when frowning, she gave off the air of a dumb blonde. "You're just jealous of me because Minami Nanba would surely choose me over you!"

"No way," I responded.

Minami Nanba was Dr. Umeda's nephew, and I had seen him once before, helping out the secretary at Osaka Peach. I couldn't quite figure out why Mii was so obsessed with him – or for that matter, why so many girls at our school were in love with a residence advisor at Osaka High. He didn't seem very attractive to me. But that might have been because he had a startling resemblance to his mother, Io, who I saw as often as I saw Dr. Umeda.

Mii continued to ramble about how I was jealous of her (not in the slightest…) until we reached Osaka Peach, a sprawling campus filled with girls from all over the country. Some girls even came from America, with their customs and their fabulous fashion sense.

My homeroom was down the first hallway, Room 2-A. (Yes, I was a sophomore, just like Mii and Umi. Nanba was a senior. Just try to figure out Mii's chances with Nanba.) I opened the white door and saw that my entire class was gathered around Umi's desk.

Umi brushed a strand of black hair out of her eye, to the left side, where a messy ponytail had been made. She was a bit pink in the face, and I knew that meant that the crazy girls in our class were pestering her again.

"Ooh!" one cried with an evil grin on her face. "You like Nakatsu, don't you?"

"No," Umi replied, her face the same shade of pink. If Umi was pink, that always meant that she was gravely embarrassed. Since Umi's heart was never on her sleeve, it wasn't that noticeable.

"Ah!" Mii giggled. "Umi'll never admit that she likes that Osakan hick. Never!"

I ignored her and walked over to Umi's side. I looked into Umi's void-like eyes and saw the truth: Nakatsu was indeed the one person she truly loved. Umi sighed as the first bell chime rang. All of the girls resumed their seats. Umi kept still, and I took my seat behind her. Mii took her seat to my right.

I tapped Umi on the shoulder. "Were they at it again?'

"Of course," Umi responded with a chill-inducing voice. I had grown accustomed to it, however, so I didn't flinch as others had done. "They never leave you alone if they think you like someone."

Umi observed my features. "Did something happen between you and Suzuki?"

Umi was oddly psychic in a way, so I gave in. "More like my mom and Suzuki…"

"It's not my place," Umi replied, "so I won't ask."

As the teacher entered, I thought hard. Dr. Umeda had destroyed the perfect trust that balanced my family. My mom was probably sobbing uncontrollably, and my brother was probably trying to get by on his own. The more I thought, the more angered I became.

I spent most of the period thinking and not paying a word of attention to my English teacher. Just as the bell rang, I yelled out, "I will NEVER speak to him or his family again!"  
Sure, the skeptical looks everyone gave me were incredibly demeaning, but I meant it. Dr. Umeda had betrayed me, and I wasn't going to let that go.

Everyone began to shuffle about a few seconds after I spoke, but Umi turned in her seat. The five minute 'talk for all your worth' teacher passing period was upon us.

"Who's family?" Umi asked curiously. "Or is it none of my business…?"

"Hokuto Umeda," I spat out, feeling vehement at the mere mention of his name. "He ruined my day… possibly my life… and his family only condones his behavior… never again…"  
Umi actually raised an eyebrow, a serious display of emotion for her. "I won't ask… seems a bit too personal for me…"

Mii's incessant jabbering had stopped. I turned to the door, thinking that the teacher had arrived. But it was just Minami Nanba, blinking as the other sophomores in my classroom stared with starry eyes at the guy.

I scoffed and then went to retrieve my work from my bag. I straightened my pile of math homework and did not raise my eyes as I spoke.

"Is there a reason that you're staring at me?" I asked Nanba. Mii choked back a sob. I knew that she'd probably kill me because Nanba looked at me, but that was just water under the bridge. I wasn't staring back.

"Do you know where the Post-Its are… Haruka Noroboku?" he asked me in his husky voice. I remained focused on my homework.

"Second drawer in the left-hand filing cabinet," I responded. But Nanba stayed put.

"…I heard that your brother moved in with my –"

I threw my folder at him angrily. "Don't even talk about it!"

The folder fell to the floor on quiet breath. Every girl was absolutely silent, save Umi, who had taken to sketching in her notebook and leaving me alone.

Nanba looked down at the navy blue folder. He walked over to the filing cabinet, amidst the oddly silent teenage girls, took his Post-Its, and walked out the door.

"Later," he said before closing the door to classroom 2-A.

Pandemonium ensued, with Mii and all her cronies beginning to chastise me.

"What was that for?" Mii yelled in my face. "That was Minami Nanba, for God's sake!"

I sighed as I saw Umi pick up my folder and proceed to doodle upon it. "He crossed a line."

"But Nanba actually spoke to a lowly sophomore like you!" Mii retorted. "You should've flushed when he talked to you! He's only the hottest guy at Osaka High School!"

"I didn't want him to say anything," I stated flatly. "I was provoked."

Mii was clearly incensed by my blatant disregard for Nanba's… hotness, and squinted her eyes shut to try and blow off excess rage.

"If it weren't for you, Nanba would be with me!" Mii finally screamed. "If only your brother hadn't moved in with someone… he would have asked me out instead!"

I screeched and threw an eraser at her.

A/N: This is my first Hana-Kimi fiction, and I'm rather pleased with Haruka's limited view of the world, if I say so myself. Anyway, RR please.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hana-Kimi. Haruka, Mii, and Umi are all my own characters.


	2. Two

Two

Umi and I took different routes home. Umi had gotten a permit and was working at the local video game shop, and I walked straight home to freshen up before helping Umi with her shift.

As I walked out of the vicinity of Osaka Peach and into the home tracts, a hand fell upon my shoulder. I smiled as I kept my eyes leveled with the ground.

"What did you slip in my backpack this time, Umi…?"

I turned around to see Minami Nanba. I blanched.

"What are you doing here?" I practically demanded. I really didn't want to talk to him, not after he almost destroyed my social life in front of my classmates.

"You seemed a bit… irked with my interruption in class," Nanba explained. "Is it because of what I said?"

I frowned. "Of course it is! I don't want my friends to know that Dr. Umeda and my brother are… are… man, just leave me alone!"

I attempted to walk ahead of him, but he just grabbed the collar of my sailor suit uniform, effectively stopping me. I coughed a few times, and then I turned to face Nanba directly.

"What do you want?" I asked violently. The frown that contorted my face meant business, and everyone that had been on the receiving end on that business… let's say that they never bugged me again. Unless you counted Mii, of course, who never learned a thing.

"Actually, it's not a matter of wanting anything," Nanba grinned weirdly, "I find myself… helpless in your wake, Haruka."

My head imploded. Helpless… in my… wake…? That meant he liked me! I would have rather coughed up blood than become Nanba's girlfriend! His family was trouble, and I seemed to be the only one that realized… hello, this guy's uncle ruined my life!

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" I inquired as I stopped at a crosswalk. To my dismay, he stopped with me.

"I like you," Nanba answered bluntly. "And by the looks of it, you don't seem to share my feelings."

"Damn right!" I yelled as the crossing light turned green. I tried to walk fast, but Nanba caught up with me.

"It's hard for you to accept the fact that your brother's gay, isn't it?"

I gulped. Nanba had hit the nail right on its head.

"A lot harder than you'd think," I retorted in a disdainful tone. "Umeda destroyed my family life. Is that what you wanted to know?"

Nanba's eyes flittered as he inspected my frame. "No. I was wondering if you would like to meet me at my house tonight."

I choked back some bile in my mouth as my feet hit the sidewalk, and hit Nanba with my book bag.

"Creep!" I threatened as I ran down the sidewalk as fast as I could. Nanba didn't attempt to follow me, however. He instead stayed put on the single block of cement.

I didn't look back. His leeriness was rather scary to me. I bit my lip as I ran up to the house's door and slammed it shut.

I remember throwing the book bag crossly onto a chair and dashing up to my room. A note from my mother was taped to my door, reminding me that I had to work an hour overtime. I smiled at the note, and ripped off my school uniform to change.

The frilly cosplay uniform I had to don that day was definitely tailored to fit me. The bottom layer was a long lacy dress, and above it I would place an aquamarine-colored pleated skirt and a white shirt with puffy sleeves. I tied the 'Video Extreme' apron over this cosplay uniform and took a good look at myself in the mirror. Slowly, I put my hair into four ponytails.

Every Monday, I was a character I had created myself: a confused night princess named Miyo. I felt like Miyo at the time. I was confused, and it was all because of…

"Nanba!" someone shrieked happily. I looked out my window. Mii was trying to hit on Nanba, who was mildly interested… or scared… or some combination of the above…

"Now that he's distracted…" I sighed to myself. I took a short walk down my staircase and opened my door precariously. I did a double take to make sure that Nanba was still distracted, and dashed out the door, up the street, jaywalked between the corner of Main and 7th, and was out of breath by the time I reached Video Extreme.

Pushing the door open, I saw my 'other half': Miyo's counterpart, Sahra. Of course, it was just Umi in her beautiful light blue and white contrast to my outfit, but she was like the other half of me.

"Hey, Miyo," Umi teased. She found my cosplayer's name hilarious for some reason. It sort of irritated me when she did that.

"Hello, Sahra. Are you going to act like I'm not Rabi-en-rose to your Dejiko?"

"Ha!" Umi smirked, then burst out laughing. "That was pretty good, Miyo… but if we keep talking and don't unload these tapes, the boss will kill us."

So I helped unload thousands of anime tapes, live-action movies, American movies, American anime movies, American CGI movies, Canadian animation… the boss loved being touted as having 'the biggest video selection in Osaka'. For the most part, I liked my boss fine, but when he managed to find a ton of legitimate copies of videos… oh, how I hated him…

Of course, no one really came to our store between four and five. That was when kids tuned in to see live-action versions of their favorite anime, so Umi and I usually traded insults – and the store's only footstool.

"So, what about Nanba and you?" Umi smiled broadly. Umi would never be so feisty and hyper at school. When she was cosplaying, no one knew who she was, so she became a totally different person. I didn't mind. I was still the same.

"I hate him," I said stoically as I put some Fist of the North Star in the kid's section of the store as a joke, right next to Pokemon and Beyblade.

Umi noticed this. "Miyo, you're going to get in trouble with the boss again."

"Fine."

I took Fist of the North Star to the Anime Classics part of the store, and had the sudden urge to put Akira in the kid's section.

The bell on the door rang open. Both Umi and I ran to the door and curtsied. "Welcome to Video Extreme!"

I looked up. The three guys at the door were Nakatsu, his American friend named Mizuki, and the legendary high-jumper Sano.

Sano kept a cold face. Mizuki looked around frantically, thinking we were nuts. He probably had never seen cosplay, being from America. Nakatsu just smiled widely.

"Cute," he smiled. "I like cosplay."

"What's cosplay?" Mizuki asked.

"Do you live in a closet!" Nakatsu cried.

"No," Sano replied truthfully.

When the three of them walked away, Umi fell onto the stepstool.

"Oh my God," she murmured. "Oh my God…"

The bell rang again.

"Today must be a good day," I mused before me and Umi went back to do our routine.

"Welcome to –!"  
I cut off. It was Minami Nanba.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Hey Nanba!" Nakatsu called. "I found a show you might like!"  
Nakatsu held up Puri Puri Poemy. Nanba blanched.

"No…"

"What are you doing here?" I asked again. I wasn't about to let that go.

"I was looking for a movie," Nanba responded with a smile. "You look beautiful."  
I narrowed my eyes and went for a broom behind the counter. "Will you stop hitting on me?"

"Depends," Nanba responded. "Will you go out with me?"

I screamed and hit him with the broom. I hadn't noticed Mizuki waiting near the counter, two videos in his hand.

"Um, can I buy these…?" Mizuki petered out.

Nanba and I turned to face him. I put the broom back quickly, and Nanba wandered down to the romance anime.

"Very sorry, sir!" I smirked. "I assure you that you will not be hit with a broom by me!"

Mizuki laughed. It sounded almost girlish, but I found it cute. Seeing as I was not one for men, I didn't fall madly in love with him, but the laugh was still one of the only bright spots of the day.

I looked down at the two videos. In my hand was the latest Pokemon movie and a dubbed version of Finding Nemo. I smirked and began to ring up the cash register.

I guess I didn't think about it at the time, but I glanced back at Nanba longingly for three seconds before taking Mizuki's money, smiling the entire time.

Meanwhile, I could still hear Umi gasping for air. She was very much in love, as it were.

A/N: It appears as if I haven't been entirely faithful to Hana-Kimi with my story, but… I'm gonna continue it anyway. I know this chapter hasn't much to do with anything, but I'm getting there, I promise!

DISCLAIMER: What do Hana-Kimi and I have in common? Nothing. I don't own it.


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